


Necessary

by Iambic



Category: Dollhouse
Genre: Character Study, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-20
Updated: 2009-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-04 16:43:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iambic/pseuds/Iambic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Topher doesn't like being needed, and he likes needing even less.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Necessary

Sometimes engagements don't go well. In fact, more often than not this seems to be the case. Topher's not sure what's going on, but he knows his science and his technology aren't entirely at fault here. There's something the people upstairs aren't telling him, and he can stare at this screen and look for his errors for hours and he still won't be any wiser to the actual problem. So he doesn't bother; he leans back in his chair and waits for Boyd to bring Echo back for her mind-wipe.

When they arrive, Topher isn't surprised to see Echo shaken and Boyd tight-lipped, drawn together for whatever comfort they draw from each other. For some reason, they express the bond between Active and handler more strongly than other pairs. That's Echo's doing, and that makes it a problem. Boyd came here all prepared to work with a stranger, and Echo smiled her brightest and won him over. She's not the same as the other Actives. She's far too curious, far too personable, far too friendly. She's far too close for comfort, fingers clutching Boyd's sleeve tight, and Topher's not sure which is worse: the fact that she's there, or the fact that it matters.

He wants to make her better. He can erase the mental rifts, the emotional scarring; he can change her back to the carefree innocent who waltzes out of the room after every engagement and carries away a little more of Boyd's heart. Boyd probably sees in her the child he never had, or maybe someone he lost. It's kind of ridiculous, how much he loves a doll. Topher doesn't like seeing that, because he's a selfish man. But then both Boyd and Echo turn on him with matching trust in their faces and expect him to fix everything. It's not fair, how well this works. They make him feel competent. He should be able to feel competent without help.

"Did I fall asleep?" Echo asks minutes later, blank and smiling and better, and the strain in Boyd's shoulders slides away.

"For a little while," Topher replies, hating that he notices these things, because really, the last thing he needs is to need validation.


End file.
